i7-720QM vs Athlon X4 740

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Aggregate performance score

Athlon X4 740
2012
4 cores / 4 threads, 65 Watt
1.66
+59.6%
Core i7-720QM
2009
4 cores / 8 threads, 45 Watt
1.04

Athlon X4 740 outperforms Core i7-720QM by an impressive 60% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Athlon X4 740 and Core i7-720QM processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking20792443
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentDesktop processorLaptop
Seriesno dataIntel Core i7
Power efficiency2.422.19
Architecture codenameTrinity (2012−2013)Clarksfield (2009−2010)
Release date2 October 2012 (12 years ago)23 September 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)no data$546

Detailed specifications

Athlon X4 740 and Core i7-720QM basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores4 (Quad-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads48
Base clock speed3.2 GHz1.6 GHz
Boost clock speed3.7 GHz2.8 GHz
Bus typeno dataDMI 1.0
Bus rateno data2.5 GT/s
Multiplierno data12
L1 cache192K64 KB (per core)
L2 cache4 MB (shared)256 KB (per core)
L3 cacheno data6 MB (shared)
Chip lithography32 nm45 nm
Die size246 mm2296 mm2
Maximum core temperatureno data100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)74 °Cno data
Number of transistors1,303 million774 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibilityno data-

Compatibility

Information on Athlon X4 740 and Core i7-720QM compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration11 (Uniprocessor)
SocketFM2FCPGA988,PGA988
Power consumption (TDP)65 Watt45 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Athlon X4 740 and Core i7-720QM. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno dataIntel® SSE4.2
AES-NI+-
FMA+-
AVX+-
vProno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)no data+
Turbo Boost Technologyno data1.0
Hyper-Threading Technologyno data+
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoring-+
PAEno data36 Bit

Security technologies

Athlon X4 740 and Core i7-720QM technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data+
EDBno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Athlon X4 740 and Core i7-720QM are enumerated here.

AMD-V+-
VT-dno data+
VT-xno data+
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Athlon X4 740 and Core i7-720QM. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3-1866DDR3-1066, DDR3-1333
Maximum memory sizeno data8 GB
Max memory channelsno data2
Maximum memory bandwidthno data21.335 GB/s

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataNone

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Athlon X4 740 and Core i7-720QM.

PCIe version2.02
PCI Express lanesno data16

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Athlon X4 740 1.66
+59.6%
i7-720QM 1.04

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Athlon X4 740 2638
+59%
i7-720QM 1659

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

Athlon X4 740 377
+23.2%
i7-720QM 306

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

Athlon X4 740 892
+4.4%
i7-720QM 854

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 1.66 1.04
Recency 2 October 2012 23 September 2009
Threads 4 8
Chip lithography 32 nm 45 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 65 Watt 45 Watt

Athlon X4 740 has a 59.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.

i7-720QM, on the other hand, has 100% more threads, and 44.4% lower power consumption.

The Athlon X4 740 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-720QM in performance tests.

Note that Athlon X4 740 is a desktop processor while Core i7-720QM is a notebook one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Athlon X4 740 and Core i7-720QM, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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AMD Athlon X4 740
Athlon X4 740
Intel Core i7-720QM
Core i7-720QM

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Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Athlon X4 740 or Core i7-720QM, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.